ECONOMY

Taxman finds undeclared money abroad

Taxman finds undeclared money abroad

The exchange of information about incomes that Greek residents have in European Union member-states or in third countries appears to be bearing fruit, with the emergence of the undeclared revenues of 100,000 taxpayers.

Giorgos Pitsilis, the head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, told the Olympia Forum in the western Peloponnese that those cases are under examination and the authority started sending notices to taxpayers last Monday. The letters inform them about the data that the tax mechanism has obtained and ask them to justify the undeclared incomes or proceed with the necessary action before the taxes and penalties due are imposed.

The undeclared revenues that were discovered through the information exchange with other countries may not necessarily entail additional taxes in Greece, but they will have to be declared. In case any tax is due, besides the fines and penalties imposed, the tax authorities will also check the origin of those incomes.

In case the taxpayers submit supplementary declarations or justify those incomes, their case will be processed without any problems; otherwise, there may also be some penal sanctions on top of the fines and the penalties.

The framework of the automatic exchange of information started in 2017, with the Greek taxman receiving data from many foreign countries about Greek tax residents (individuals and enterprises) aimed at locating any incomes undeclared in Greece.

Most countries’ tax authorities have full details on the bank accounts and other assets their citizens have abroad, so the Greek tax authorities have complete data about every bank account and other assets Greeks have in other countries.

Any taxpayers who have deposited money abroad that is justified by their property data and have been taxed for it have nothing to worry about. However, any money that is not justified, constitutes the product of tax evasion or other illegal activity will not just lead to the risk of fines, but may well be reduced close to zero.

The tax administration has also asked the three major short-term property rental platforms to send it the details of property incomes for Greece in 2018 and 2019 by the end of this month. As of next year, these data will be sent to the tax authorities within February, so that any undeclared revenues are automatically inserted in the tax statements.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.